Covid-19 and oral manifestations

The last two and a half years our life has been marked by the COVID-19 pandemic. Within a few months, COVID-19 became a global pandemic that affected all age groups with millions of deaths and serious socioeconomic consequences. The clinical symptoms of the disease may be completely absent, resembling those of the flu or severe, leading to the onset of severe respiratory disease. The most common symptoms are (from low to high) fever, headache, sore throat, dry cough, fatigue. Severely ill patients may develop pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Various cutaneous manifestations of COVID-19 have been described, as well as manifestations from the oral cavity. The etiology of oral lesions in patients with COVID-19 appears to be multifactorial. Oral manifestations may be caused due to the action of the SARSCoV-2 virus itself in the tissues of the oral cavity, as well as to the increase in stress and the decline of the immune system caused by the disease, to the medication for COVID-19 and hospital conditions. Oral manifestations include distaste, hyposalivation, burning sensation, oral lesions such as canker sores, recurrent herpes infection, candidiasis and others, while the possibility of a bilateral correlation between COVID-19 and periodontal disease is under investigation. In any case, it is taken for granted that it is necessary that a dentist should monitor as well severely ill COVID-19 patients, to enhance patient support and to contribute to pain control and relief. A better understanding of the oral manifestations of COVID-19 can help clarify the pathological processes involved in the disease and guide the dentist in the direction of more effective treatment of its oral manifestations.